Once, a sage and his disciple were going through the forest. They chanced to see a tigress. She was going to kill her own cubs out of hunger. The sage was saddened to see this. He decided to sacrifice himself. He sent his disciple to get some food lest he should object to the sage’s actions. When the disciple had gone away, the sage went and stood in front of the tigress. The tigress and her cubs lost no time in attacking the sage and feasting on him. When the disciple returned, he could not find the sage anywhere. He was surprised to see that the tigress no longer looked hungry. Her cubs were also playing around. Then, he saw the bloodstained clothes of the sage and understood what had taken place. Now he knew that the sage had sacrificed himself to feed a hungry tigress and protected her young ones as an act of great charity.
The Sage Who Sacrificed Himself
